The U.S. Senate soon will debate the 21st Century Postal Reform Act, a deeply flawed bill designed to “save” the Postal Service by downsizing it dramatically.

Businesses in New Jersey that rely on Saturday delivery and on their local post offices to operate successfully in today’s 24/7 business environment will be among those most hurt. At particular risk are New Jersey’s 762,000 small businesses, which employ approximately 1.7 million people.

Nationally, a $1.3 trillion mailing industry supporting 7.5 million private-sector jobs is dependent directly on strong postal operations. And rural communities, the elderly and millions without reliable internet service need access to a strong postal network that connects all Americans — from New Jersey to California.

Given the high stakes for real people, Congress needs to get this right. But at its core, the bill blames the internet and poor management for the Postal Service’s financial losses. That’s wrong and the legislation’s mandates would do nothing to restore the USPS to profitability. Rather, it is likely to sacrifice quality service and American jobs, and result in a degraded Postal Service.

The legislation, as written, will drive mail out of the postal system, thereby reducing revenue. The Postal Service receives no tax money to support its operations and cuts in service amount to a cost increase on the public. For example, New Jersey residents needing Saturday service will be forced to turn to expensive private carriers to fill the void.

As president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, I understand the budgetary and market challenges facing the USPS. However, these issues don’t result from an outdated organization. Despite the economic problems our country has confronted for the past several years, the Postal Service has done quite well. In fiscal years from 2007 to 2010, it had an operational profit of $611, and customer satisfaction and on-time delivery are at record highs.

Why, then, have the media been claiming the USPS is facing imminent bankruptcy? To answer that, we must look back to where we began: Congress.

In the past five years, the Postal Service has been forced to pay $21 billion to satisfy a 2006 congressional mandate requiring it to prefund, within 10 years, most future retiree health benefits over the next 75 years. The USPS is the only public agency or private firm required to do so, and this mandate accounts for more than 80 percent of the organization’s red ink since 2007.

Although this bill would reduce the level of retiree health prefunding, it would not solve the problem. The USPS would remain the only enterprise in America facing such a heavy mandate. The annual cost of prefunding under the new law would still impose significant debt on the Postal Service and would result in needless cuts to service. In essence, too many members of Congress have been more focused on paying retiree medical bills 50 or 75 years from now than on preserving high-quality, door-to-door, six-days-a-week mail service for the American people and the businesses that employ them.

Instead, Congress should require prefunding only when the Postal Service is profitable, or repeal the prefunding mandate. The USPS has already set aside more funds for future retiree health benefits than any company in America, and it makes no sense to force the organization to prefund even more, when the entire system is at risk because of it.

Unless S1789 is dramatically restructured, it will not save America’s postal network. Rather, it will threaten the survival of a venerable institution based on the Constitution, which would upset the livelihoods of the people, communities and businesses throughout New Jersey that depend on a strong, reliable service.

Instead of enacting shortsighted, destructive policies, Congress should remove this unnecessary prefunding burden and work with all the parties affected by these decisions to identify real solutions to reinvent the Postal Service for the 21st century.

Fredric V. Rolando is president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.